1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a system and process for recovery of lithium from a geothermal brine, and more particularly to a system and sequential process for recovery of zinc, manganese, lithium or a combination thereof from a Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area brine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area is located in the Salton Trough, a major trans-tensional rift between the Pacific plate, on the west, and the North American plate, on the east, which merges southward through Mexico into the long, narrow Gulf of California.
The Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area has the most geothermal capacity potential in the U.S. Geothermal energy, the harnessing of heat radiating from the Earth's crust, is a renewable resource that is capable of cost-effectively generating large amounts of power. In addition, the Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area is one of North America's prime sources of alkali metals, alkaline earth metals and transition metals, such as lithium, potassium, rubidium, iron, zinc and manganese.
Brines from the Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area are unusually hot (up to at least 390° C. at 2 km depth), hypersaline (up to 26 wt. %), and metalliferous (iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), copper (Cu)). The brines are primarily sodium (Na), potassium (K), calcium (Ca) chlorides with up to 25 percent of total dissolved solids; they also contain high concentrations of metals such as Fe, Mn, Li, Zn, and Pb. While the chemistry and high temperature of the Salton Sea brines have led to the principal challenges to the development of the Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area, lithium and these rare earth elements typically maintain high commodity value and are used in a range of specialized industrial and technological applications.
It is therefore desirable to provide an improved system and process for recovery of lithium from a geothermal brine.
It is further desirable to provide a system and process for recovery of lithium from a Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area brine.
It is still further desirable to provide a system and sequential process for recovery of zinc, manganese, lithium or a combination thereof from a Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area brine.
It is still further desirable to provide a system and process for sequential recovery of zinc, manganese, and lithium from a Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area brine using impurity removal, selective recovery of lithium chloride, and selective conversion to lithium carbonate.
Before proceeding to a detailed description of the invention, however, it should be noted and remembered that the description of the invention which follows, together with the accompanying drawings, should not be construed as limiting the invention to the examples (or embodiments) shown and described. This is so because those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains will be able to devise other forms of this invention within the ambit of the appended claims.